Pathankot attack: India awaits Pak’s response on NIA’s visit

By

ANI

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Updated

:

17 May 2016,

5:26 pm

New Delhi: India is awaiting Pakistan’s response with regard to the visit of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to carry forward the probe in connection with the terrorist attack on the Pathankot air force base.

According to sources, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar had during a meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary on the sidelines of Heart of Asia Summit last month pointed out the need to review progress in the Pathankot terror attack investigation.

Sources also said India is also ascertaining Pakistan’s response in this regard, adding that the details would be worked out subsequently.

After the bilateral meeting on April 26, India had said that Islamabad cannot be in a state of denial on the impact of terrorism on the bilateral relationship and asserted at the same time that the terrorist groups operating from Pakistan’s soil ‘must not be allowed to operate with impunity’.

Describing the meeting between the two Foreign Secretaries as ‘frank and constructive’, Ministry of External Affairs ( MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup had then said that the issue of listing Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar under the UN Security Council committee established under resolution 1267 was also brought up.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has admitted that the recent talks held on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul conference in New Delhi could not achieve any ‘major breakthrough’ as India refused to give any time frame for the start of comprehensive bilateral dialogue.

After his return from New Delhi, Foreign Secretary Chaudhry indicated that no headway was made as far as the formal start of the composite dialogue with India was concerned.

During the meeting, Chaudhry emphasized that Kashmir remains the core issue that requires a just solution, in accordance with UNSC resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people.

It was the first such meeting between the two top diplomats after the talks were deferred in January following the strike by Pakistani terrorists at the Pathankot Airbase.

The two nations had in December last year agreed to resume the comprehensive bilateral dialogue after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad.